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3.30.2012

om: art masterpiece

Tabac Royal, Henri Matisse

Wow, I can't believe I have lead 6 Art Masterpiece discussions for my son's Kindergarten class and have yet to share any of them with you! That just shows how fast this year has been. Things have been moving along at lightening speed. Let me take a moment to slow down and tell you a little bit about Art Masterpiece.

Art Masterpiece is an art appreciation program offered to elementary
children by parent volunteer guides. Essentially, art history for kids.
The goal is to help students look, think and talk about great
masterpieces of art. I'm a trained Art Masterpiece Guide for the Mesa Public Schools (MPS) Art Masterpiece Program. I started back in 2010 when my oldest was in Kindergarten. As a guide, I lead 30 minute discussions about
famous paintings (chosen by MPS) every other week from January - May.

This has been a great way for me to be in my son's classroom, volunteering with something that means a lot to me and watching the kids minds and imagination at work. Much of the art I am learning about for the first time which is amazing. When I discuss an artist or artwork I have seen before, I love that I gain more intimate in the knowledge of the person and their work. The things I love most are the smiles on my kids faces when they see me arrive to talk with their class, watching the kids soak up the images and discuss the details of great works of
art and noticing the different characteristics of each artwork and how a work of art may relate to them in some way. Such bliss!

Stay tuned as I round up my discussions and share them here on my blog. To see the posts from 2010 and 2011 discussions, click here.

One
Moment [OM] is a weekly meet up that promotes living in the
moment. Whether funny, sad, ridiculous, or banal, looking for
these moments can promote balance in our lives. Anyone can join – read about it here.